Dana White Sends Conor McGregor Stern Warning After UFC Slight

UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is hellbent on boxing Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his next outing, and anyone that tries to get in his way of arranging the superfight will automatically become an enemy. Apparently, that includes the UFC, who made him the sport’s highest-paid fighter in a matter of four short years.

McGregor hosted a pay-per-view interview over the weekend and took aim at the UFC on his way into the venue.

A photo posted by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma) on Jan 28, 2017 at 12:45pm PST

Not one, but McGregor tried to take two digs at the UFC. The first one is incorrect, as Saturday’s UFC on FOX 23 event inside Pepsi Center in Denver actually garnered 13,233 fans in attendance. We’ll just file that error under alternative facts.

That’s not a big deal. What is a big deal is saying,”F**k the UFC.”

UFC president Dana White (pictured) and McGregor initially appeared to be headed down the BFF road, but McGregor began his tradition of attending pre-fight press conferences late, if he attended them at all (Please see: UFC 200), and started to publicly demand bigger paydays, and now their relationship is strictly business.

Initially, White could do nothing but chuckle when he heard what McGregor was saying from across the pond. Then he got serious, warning McGregor that going head-up against the UFC would not turn out well for him.

“When you’re about to go on and do a pay-per-view that you’re charging five bucks to people to listen to you talk, I’m sure you’ve gotta say some pretty crazy s**t,” White said with a smile at Saturday’s UFC on FOX 23 post fight press conference before getting serious. “You know how I feel about Conor. I’ve always shown Conor nothing but respect, and if he wants to go down that road with us, let me tell you, it will be an epic fall.”

White was unsure when asked if he thinks McGregor would dare go down that road with the UFC.

“I don’t know,” White said. “It’s not up to me.”

This is the sternest message White has ever issued to his brash cash cow. McGregor believes that under the Ali Act, he and his newly formed McGregor Promotions would be able to arrange a boxing match with Mayweather without the UFC’s involvement. However, he noted that it would be “smoother” to keep the UFC in the mix.

Although White offered each fighter $25 million plus a cut of the event’s pay-per-view buys two weeks ago, he doesn’t believe the scrap will ever come to fruition.

“Here’s what I think the chances are, about the same as me being the backup quarterback for [Tom] Brady on Sunday,” said White in referencing Super Bowl LI. “[I made an offer] because [Mayweather] was full of s**t. He said he had made an offer, which wasn’t true. So I made a real offer.”

White said there has been no counter from Mayweather after he scoffed at White’s offer.